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First beginnings
The first executive committee consisted of J.N. van Hall, president, J.G. Götze, secretary-treasurer, P.J.A. Meersmans, librarian, C.W.E. Baard, W.A.F. Bastiaanse and S. Kalff. In January 1940, Mr. J.G. Götze, who had been president for almost thirty years and to whom admirers of Multatuli owed a great deal, passed away in Amsterdam at the age of 73. The new president, Mr. De Hart, wanted to reinterpret Multatuli as one of the precursors of national-socialism. In protest, fellow committee members resigned in 1941. The "Commissariaat voor niet-commerciële Verenigingen en Stichtingen" (= Commissioners's Office for non-commer-ci-al Associations and Foundations) charged Mr. De Hart with putting together another executive committee. So he did and this new committee was able to maintain itself undisturbed till the liberation. In the summer of 1945 some admirers of Multatuli, amongst which Garmt Stuiveling and Hans de Leeuwe, decided to reorganize the society, and at a general meeting some months later under the Stuiveling's chairmanship, the decision was made to change the name "Multatuli-Museum" into "Multatuli-Genootschap" (= Multatuli Society). The objectives remained the same: To spread and deepen knowledge about Multatuli and to stress his continuous topicality. Consequently, the theme chosen by the Society to mark the commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of Dekker's death in February 1947, was "The Living Multatuli". Exhibitions in Amsterdam, Antwerp and Malines contributed considerably to this initiative, as did the meeting in the aula magna of the University of Amsterdam and new performances of Vorstenschool by the "Residentie-Toneel".
948 saw the publication of the so-called zero-edition of Max Havelaar, i.e. the first edition of the book based on the uncensored manuscript. It was published in Amsterdam by G.A. van Oorschot, who joined forces with Stuiveling to raise money to get Multatuli's Volledige Werken (= Complete Works) published. The first volume of this edition appeared in 1950 and it would take till 1995 before the 25th (and final) volume was published. Shortly after, Hans van den Bergh, editor of this publication and ex-president of the Society, handed over the first complete set of the Volledige Werken to crown prince Willem Alexander in the Amsterdam Town Theatre.
On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of Multatuli's death, Queen Beatrix unveiled a statue of Multatuli on the Torensluis in Amsterdam, near the museum. The statue was cast by Hans Bayens and made possible by publisher G.A. van Oorschot, in cooperation with the executive committee of the Multatuli Society. | ||
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"to collect and conserve Eduard Douwes Dekker's books and manuscripts, as well as writings, documents (including portraits) and other objects connected with him, or having a direct or indirect relation to his life and works".
Plans to erect a memorial for Multatuli were ultimately realized thanks to the cooperation of the "Vereniging voor Facultatieve Lijkverbranding" (= Association for Optional Cremation). On 6th March 1948, Stuiveling unveiled a monument in the urn field of the Westerveld crematorium, where the urns containing the ashes of Multatuli and his widow, which had been kept in the museum, were interred.
After seven years, he resigned and was succeeded by J.J. Oversteegen, who served as president for the same period as his predecessor. When he died in 1999, he was succeeded by C. Fasseur. This was the first time a Law professor and historian became president of the Multatuli Society rather than a literary man.